Studio 1 - Folio Plan

1 RATIONALE: Intention

Over the course of studio one, I would like to explore making an animated piece, focusing on experimentation with forms of storytelling in a 2D environment. For this project I would like to explore movement, colour and transition as well as character design. I want to gather photographic images and use them as layers in my animation, as well as rotoscoping with video footage in other parts.

My intention for this work is to examine the complex relationship between photography and animation. In terms of composition, colour and treatment of the body, I want the piece to work in explicit relation to painting, seeking to understand and define broader abstract ideologies that relate to the body itself.

2 CONTEXTS: Field

This work mainly sits in the field of 2D animation maybe in a loose narrative form if that’s not too ambitious for this short amount of time. I was inspired by the works of Matthew Stone who is a visual artist. He explores the figure through a combination of painting and digital manipulation, presenting segmented busts and bodies played out in abstracted three-dimensional spaces. After painting a series of individual brushstrokes, Stone photographs the gestures and sculpts them around digital figures using several software programs. The wrapped figures hover, twist, and contort above embedded shadows which give the illusion of depth. The final scenes are then printed onto raw linen. He organises and examines complex statements in regard to the relationship between photography and painting, disrupting the holy status of painting as the ‘cosmic flesh’ of art history whilst simultaneously pushing the visceral experience of paint forward.

Colourful brushstrokes digitally sculpted into figural compositions by Matthew stone

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/09/digital-paintings-by-matthew-stone/

I’m also interested in paintings of Joanna Hulin which represents humanity in an honest and individual way. Her expressive use of paint contrasted with a precise attention to form gives the works a connection with reality whilst maintaining an important focus on the aesthetics of painting. Taking influence from the stigma surrounding loss and mortality, the work is an interpretation of some of humanities biggest insecurities. Using paint as a medium by which to explore these themes, in a nod to the tradition of portraiture commissions, a painting of hands touches us with its familiarity, it seems to have been painted with tender appreciation. The paint makes the figures permanent in time and space exceeding our own lifetimes.

Moving forward in the next couple of weeks, I would like to move away from visual artists and research animators in the field that work with the idea of layering.

3 METHOD: Conceptual, Technical, Craft & Management

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be using TV Paint to create a series of 2D short snippets. In doing so I will develop my own aesthetic style and method which will be the starting point for my 2D animation practice. I will explore concepts such as movement, colour etc. Through my folio work, I’m hoping to experiment with new ideas and methods developing creative and critical thinking as well as research skills. To engage my learnings, I also intend to research more animators to inspire my style and techniques.

4 PRODUCTION: Tools

I will be using TVPaint for this project I also would like to explore other tools over the semester.